Five years ago, Hewetson Elementary School was rated one of the lowest performing schools in Nevada. Yet despite its many challenges, Hewetson was named an Exemplary Turn Around School for the 2009-2010 school year, the highest academic designation for Nevada schools. This success is the result of transforming the school from a low-achieving…

Kentucky is no stranger to education reform, having worked for the better part of 20 years on raising standards to improve student achievement. In 2009, the Kentucky General Assembly called for more rigorous standards to address high school graduates' college and career readiness. So when the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief…

About three-fourths of the states have already adopted the Common Core State Standards, which were designed to provide more clarity about and consistency in what is expected of student learning across the country. However, given the brief time since the standards' final release in June, questions persist among educators, who will have the…

Describes how one school selected and prepared students to transfer from oversized classes into a new class at midyear. (IRT)

Describes and evaluates six common and/or empirically validated school-based substance-abuse programs, including Here's Looking At You, 2000; Developing Understanding of Self and Others (DUSO); Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE); Growing Healthy; QUEST; and Social Decision Making--Social Problem Solving. QUEST had all 11 key program elements;…

Instead of time off from school, suspended students experience a long day, with minutes seeming more like hours unless they are willing to get to the tasks at hand. (Author)

Describes a pilot project to include the global approach in the curricula of six Washington, D.C., area elementary schools. Discussion of the project's evaluation is included. (IRT)

To improve its reading program, a Pennsylvania district involved its teachers in retaining consultants who would work collaboratively with them. This model has been used in each of four elementary schools for the past seven years. The district allocates $1,800 per school for consultants, instructional materials, and substitutes who release…

In the midnineties, Albuquerque Public Schools developed an Extra Support for Principals initiative-a voluntary support program that respects participants' time constraints and schedules only three activities during the year. Both experienced and mentored principals value the program, which keeps more beginning administrators on the job. (MLH)

Describes schooling in Israel, where religion is the center of learning for Jewish, Christian, and Muslim children. Outlines five kinds of schools available to Jewish children. (Author/JM)

An Alaska elementary school developed an innovative program to reduce bus problems arising from discipline infractions and driver/student frustrations. On every first Tuesday, the principal meets with drivers to offer encouragement and training. Students earn individual and group points for good bus behavior and receive small treats from the…

By bolstering students' sense of community in their school, educators can actually reduce the need for numerous prevention programs competing for time. When widely implemented, the Child Development Program fosters academic motivation and enjoyment of school while reducing alcohol and marijuana use among fifth and sixth graders. (MLH)

"Principal for a Day" is a program that provides students with an opportunity to work alongside the principal. Easily implemented, the program can encourage participation in school events and activities and help recognize and reward students. Ways to structure the day and involve the media are outlined. (MLH)

Attempting to respond to differing community opinions about an all-day kindergarten in a period of budget problems, Superintendent Robert L. Zorn helped institute a program in which the afternoon session was optional, to be supported by a $100 "lab fee." (JM)

Uses a principal's disturbing experience to introduce the contention that teachers' lack of careful attention to instructing students about report writing may lead to mere copying, which in upper grades can become plagiarism. Proposes a solution involving the "six questions" (who? what? when? where? why? and how?). (JM)